Articles by Press Release
SBFA Launches Industry Certification for Small Business Finance Providers
November 16, 2021
Washington, D.C.— The Small Business Finance Association (SFBA) today launched a new certification for the small business finance industry. The Certified Small Business Finance Professional (CSBFP) program will bring education and accountability to all providers of alternative finance products. The certification will require applicants complete a four-section training course, abide by industry best practices, provide industry references, pass an exam and be subject to a background check. The certification will also require applicants to complete continuing education classes every two years.
“This certification is a message to our customers that we want them to feel confident they are being offered fair capital options from responsible lenders,” said Steve Denis, the executive director of SBFA. “There are countless companies offering a proliferation of products and services and we believe it’s business owners deserve the comfort of knowing they are working with a certified professional.”
The certification will require applicants to complete a course centered on understanding products, laws governing the industry and compliance. The certification exam will focus on testing applicants’ ability to understand key concepts and best practices. Those who become certified will be allowed to use CSBFP branding in their marketing materials, have access to key regulatory updates and gain entry to a networking platform that will allow them to connect to industry and legal professionals.
“Our goal is to offer a fully immersive experience for certified professionals. We don’t simply want to give them a stamp but provide them a way to connect, learn and grow beyond the initial education process. It’s in the interest of our industry to offer best-in-class professionals, but more importantly, it’s in the interest of better serving our small business customers,” said Denis.
The certification is open to anyone working in the alternative small business finance industry. Interested professionals can learn more at www.csbfp.org or www.sbfassociation.org.
Contact:
Steve Denis 202.213.9506
sdenis@sbfassociation.org
Ascentium Capital LLC Reports $390M in Third Quarter Funding Volume
November 2, 2021
KINGWOOD, Texas – Nov. 2, 2021 – Ascentium Capital LLC, a national commercial lender, announced continued growth during the third quarter of 2021. Financing volume increased $82 million, up 26% from the prior-year period. Strategic execution and ongoing economic recovery resulted in strong performance this quarter.
“Ascentium remains focused on delivering an exceptional customer experience supported by operational efficiencies, service excellence and competitive financing products. These core competencies are resonating with our clients and contributing to our positive momentum going into the fourth quarter,” said Tom Depping, executive vice president and Ascentium group manager.
Ascentium Capital offers specialized equipment financing and business loans to commercial entities nationwide. The company also provides customized finance programs for equipment manufacturers and distributers with simplified application procedures to help businesses in a broad array of industries including commercial vehicles, energy, franchise, healthcare, industrial, and technology.
“Quarter-over-quarter originations growth remains steady as we continue to satisfy our customers’ demands,” added David Lyder, senior vice president of Ascentium Sales and Marketing. “We are recruiting additional sales resources and refining existing products to keep pace with, and anticipate, our customers’ needs. Our top priority is helping our customers grow their businesses.”
About Ascentium Capital LLC
Ascentium Capital LLC, a subsidiary of Regions Bank, specializes in providing a broad range of business equipment financing, leasing, and loans across the United States. The Company’s offering is designed to benefit equipment manufacturers and distributors as well as direct to businesses nationwide. For additional information about Ascentium and its business financing products and services, please visit AscentiumCapital.com.
About Regions Financial Corporation
Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $156 billion in assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation’s largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, and mortgage products and services. Regions serves customers across the South, Midwest and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates more than 1,300 banking offices and approximately 2,000 ATMs. Regions Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com.
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Media Contact
Christine Kimball, Vice President, Marketing
Ascentium Capital LLC
ChristineKimball@AscentiumCapital.com
Ascentium on Twitter: @AscentiumTeam
IOU Financial Inc Surpasses $US 1 Billion in Loan Originations and Establishes All-time Record in Quarterly Loan Originations
November 2, 2021in its 12-year history of funding small business growth in North America
Atlanta, November 2, 2021 – IOU FINANCIAL INC. (“IOU” or “the Company”) (TSX-V: IOU), a leading online lender to small businesses (IOUFinancial.com), announced today that it has surpassed US$1B in total loan originations.
“This is a major milestone for all IOU team members, partners and stakeholders,” said Robert Gloer, President and CEO. “In 12 years, the company has grown but our values have not changed: now more than ever we are committed to exceeding the expectations of our broker partners and the small business owners across North America who rely on our funding solutions to drive their growth plans.”
In addition, IOU announced today that its loan originations for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 surpassed all previous records. The company originated over US$52 million in small business loans in Q3, a new high-water mark in the 12-year history of the company, representing a sequential growth of 51.5% vs. Q2 2021, and 183.1% over Q3 2020.
“We are thrilled to surpass pre-pandemic loan origination numbers and start setting new all-time records for IOU Financial,” said Robert Gloer, President and CEO. “We remain cautiously optimistic that the economic recovery will continue despite the lingering potential macroeconomic and public health risks.”
IOU Financial originated its first loan in December 2009 and quickly positioned itself as a trusted alternative to banks by helping small business owners get fast and easy access to funding visa its proprietary IOU360 technology platform. The Company continued funding small businesses throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and has subsequently introduced the industry-first IOU Financial Cash Back Loan and announced an-all-time record in monthly loan originations.
“We faced the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic with the same entrepreneurial spirit that drove us to launch IOU Financial on the heels of the 2008 financial crisis – and both experiences have reinforced the importance of helping small businesses adapt to new challenges and grow” added Gloer. “Here’s to the next 12 years of small business growth!”
The Company is due to share its Q3 Financial Results in the coming weeks.
About IOU Financial Inc.
IOU Financial Inc. is a wholesale lender that provides quick and easy access to growth capital to small businesses through a network of preferred brokers across the US and Canada. Built on its proprietary IOU360 technology platform that connects underwriters, merchants and brokers in real time, IOU Financial has become a trusted alternative to banks by underwriting over $984 million as of September 20,2021 in loans to fund small business growth since 2009. IOU trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol IOU (TSXV: IOU), and on the US OTC markets as IOUFF. To learn more about IOU Financial’s corporate history, financial products, or to join our broker network please visit www.IOUFinancial.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of IOU including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, dependence upon regulatory and shareholder approvals, the execution of definitive documentation and the uncertainty of obtaining additional financing. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. IOU does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For more information, please contact:
Robert Gloer, Chief Executive Officer, 866-217-8564 ext.308
David Kennedy, Chief Financial Officer, 514-789-0694 ext. 278
Carl Brabander, EVP of Strategy, 866-217-8564 ext. 4378
Old Hill Partners Upsizes Funding Commitment to ByzFunder up to $40 million
October 19, 2021
New York, October 19, 2021: ByzFunder, the leading non-bank Fintech company, announced a significant upsizing of existing financing from strategic partner Old Hill Partners of up to $40 million. This financing round comes as a substantial increase from Old Hill Partners’ first facility of $12 million in 2020.
In September, ByzFunder closed its record financial performance exceeding $12 million in originations. The finance upsizing from Old Hill enhances ByzFunder’s position as an emerging leader in the business alternative financing space. It provides the assistance needed to advance near-term and long-term priorities in preparation for an anticipated period of significant innovation, growth, and expansion into additional credit tiers.
Ilya Fridman, CEO expressed enthusiasm and confidence about the path ahead; “We have a very exciting journey ahead of us. Our people continue to rally together and outperform with an absolute commitment to excellence, and our platform continues to grow stronger, more advanced, and more capable. With Old Hill, the exceptional team of investors, and upsizing of financial resources that their partnership brings, we can accelerate ByzFunder’s already impressive growth trajectory, expanding our balance sheet to fully service business owners.”
Old Hill Partners Inc. is an alternative asset manager focused on asset-based lending transactions with borrowers seeking $10 to $50 million in financing. The firm structures senior secured debt in the form of term, drawdown, and revolving-to-term facilities of up to four years and loan-to-value ratios in the range of 35% to 85%. Collateral types include pools of loans or leases (specialty finance), receivables, inventory, machinery, and equipment.
“We have been impressed by the quality of ByzFunder’s originations, performance to date, exceptional leadership, disruptive business model, innovative technology, and the overall quality of their operations. We believe the company is well-positioned for further growth, and we are pleased to be part of it,” said Peter Faigl, Senior Portfolio Manager at Old Hill.
About ByzFunder
ByzFunder NY LLC is a leading non-bank financing company that has successfully provided small to medium-sized businesses with fast and convenient financing alternatives since 2018. ByzFunder combines technology and non-traditional credit algorithms to offer attractive pricing and exceptional customer service to a market not captured by traditional banks.
National Funding Announces the Upsize of Their Bank Credit Facility and the Issuance of Corporate Notes
October 12, 2021
SAN DIEGO, Calif. October 12, 2021 – National Funding, Inc., one of the largest U.S. specialty finance companies serving small- and medium-sized businesses, announced the recent renewal and upsize of a $60.0 million senior secured warehouse line of credit. The facility, which includes an accordion to expand to $75.0 million, was provided by a prominent U.S.-based commercial bank. The facility will continue to be used by the Company to fund new originations and support additional growth of the platform.
Concurrent with the transaction, National Funding also secured a $55.0 million investment-grade rated corporate note financing provided by a consortium of institutional investors. The transaction was assigned a BBB+ rating by a nationally recognized statistical ratings organization. Having closed this additional financing, National Funding is well positioned to support its partners and enhances the Company’s ability to take advantage of significant market opportunities.
To date, National Funding has provided more than $4.3 billion in working capital and equipment leasing for more than 75,000 small- to medium-sized businesses nationwide.
“As the economy recovers from the pandemic, this challenging environment is creating opportunities for National Funding to accelerate our growth plans and at the same time provide flexible capital solutions to our client base seeking to expand their businesses,” stated Dave Gilbert, CEO of the Company. “Our ability to close these transactions with multiple institutional partners has substantially expanded our financial capacity and flexibility and is a validation of the strength of the robust platform that National Funding has built.”
Joe Gaudio, President of National Funding, stated, “These new facilities represent the continued evolution of the Company’s funding sources, providing National Funding with a unique opportunity to reduce our cost of funding and access more diversified sources of capital. Both investments are a strong endorsement of the stability and success of our Company and of our mission to transform the way small businesses access the capital they need to grow.”
Brean Capital, LLC served as the Company’s Exclusive Financial Advisor and Placement Agent in connection with the note transaction.
About National Funding
Founded in 1999, National Funding is a leading U.S. specialty finance company serving small- and medium-sized businesses. The Company’s foundation serves American small business owners by providing funding solutions to meet their needs to reinvest in their day-to-day operations and help them grow. National Funding’s digital funding process has elevated its digital capabilities by delivering a fast and simple online application. For more information about National Funding, visit https://www.nationalfunding.com.
Contact:
Susan Almon-Pesch
Publicist for National Funding
sue@speschialpr.com
Fundomate Announces $50 Million Line of Credit to Bring Embedded Automated Funding and Real-Time Banking to Payments and SMB Marketplaces
September 30, 2021
Los Angeles, September 30, 2021 — Fundomate, a leading embedded finance provider of automated business funding solutions and real-time banking tools for merchant-facing platforms, announced the closing of a $50 million line of credit with Revere Capital today. The new line of credit is Fundomate’s largest to date.
Fundomate will leverage the credit facility to scale up its partnerships with merchant-facing businesses and grow the company’s new white-label banking platform. The platform enables merchant-facing platforms and marketplaces to rapidly expand their product suite and enhance engagement by offering automated financing and embedded banking tools under their own brand.
“With the closing of the $50 million credit line, Fundomate can scale its proven automated funding platform via its one-touch funding tool already embedded within 100+ payment processing partners and marketplaces”, says Sam Schapiro, CEO and Founder of Fundomate. “We’re excited to also focus on our new embedded real-time banking platform, which uses AI and advanced forecasting to provide our partners the ability to offer their customers free short-term working capital that’s available for immediate use.”
Revere Capital Managing Director Christopher Gilker said, “We’re incredibly excited to grow with Fundomate. As I tell all my colleagues, Fundomate is a company at the right place at the right time. The team is ambitious, and I have no doubt the company will disrupt the fintech, payments, and banking space in a big way.”
Revere Capital Managing Director Suman Mallick commented further, saying, “I’m very excited about Fundomate’s potential to change how businesses manage their banking and credit needs. I believe the company will benefit from strong secular tailwinds and has vast opportunities for growth with merchant-facing businesses throughout the US.”
Waterford Capital structured and arranged the line of credit on behalf of Fundomate. Dave Piotrowski, Managing Director at Waterford Capital, said, “Fundomate has an advantage over others in the merchant finance space through the products offered through their payment processor partners. This financing relationship with Revere Capital will help take the company to the next level and further broaden their competitive advantage.”
About Fundomate
Fundomate is an innovative fintech company that operates in the alternative lending space and provides both direct-to-business and white-labeled turnkey solutions, enabling merchant-facing platforms to offer alternative funding products to their customers as a value-added proposition.
The company has deployed over $100M to more than 2000 merchants across various industries in
the United States.
About Revere Capital
Revere Capital is a private credit manager with expertise in lower middle-market real estate bridge lending & specialty finance. The firm’s disciplined underwriting utilizes fundamental real estate analysis and research, emphasizing intrinsic value to create a diversified portfolio for investors. Revere also specializes in financing other commercial interests, consumer interests and insurance-backed interests. With a national footprint, Revere Capital offers speed, certainty of execution, and creativity to structure loans to fit borrowers’ needs and provide contractual income for investors.
About Waterford Capital
Waterford Capital is a leading arranger of structured finance and asset securitization transactions. The firm advises specialty finance companies and asset managers in connection with warehouse credit facilities, private placements of asset-backed securities, whole loan sale programs, and mezzanine and equity capital raises.
More Than 70% of UK SMEs Say They’re Bouncing Back After the Pandemic
September 15, 202145 per cent of SMEs say they’ve already hit or surpassed pre-Covid levels of turnover, with a further 26 per cent expecting to return within one year
The results also show alternative lenders are now being used to finance businesses just as much as traditional banks
More than 70 per cent of UK SMEs are making strong post-pandemic recoveries, according to a new study investigating the impact of Covid-19 on small businesses.
Just weeks on from the relaxation of restrictions on July 19th, 45 per cent of SMEs say they have already hit or surpassed pre-Covid levels of turnover, with another 26 per cent expecting to achieve that within a year.
More than 250 SMEs were involved in the survey by alternative lender Capify, which also highlighted how 48 per cent of UK businesses had adapted their business models in some way to survive during lockdown. Launching online sales (38 per cent) and adopting new services or products (38 per cent) were the two most popular answers.
The findings also made good reading for employment statistics, with over 50 per cent of SMEs making no permanent cuts to their number of staff over the past 12 months, despite 64 per cent using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) during the pandemic.
The second most popular Government-backed support used was the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), which was taken up by 55 per cent of SMEs.
The important role of alternative lenders alongside traditional banks through the pandemic was also highlighted, with 41 per cent saying they would look to traditional lenders for future loans and finance, closely followed by alternative finance companies at 39 per cent.
And with the survey finding that one in three businesses expect to need finance during the next 12 months, John Rozenbroek, CFO/CCO at Capify says the need for a range of financial options to support the UK’s economic recovery is clear.
“It’s fantastic to see that the majority of UK businesses are enjoying strong performances following the easing of lockdown restrictions, with many reaping the rewards of adapting their business models during the pandemic,” he said.
“The CJRS and BBLS clearly played important roles in keeping SMEs ticking over, but it’s also important to note that many small businesses went without much government support, having fallen through the gaps of various support schemes.
“Alternative finance has played a huge part in propping up and supporting businesses through the challenges of the last 18 months, and our data show that as an industry, it is now being considered by SMEs just as much as traditional lending options like high street banks.”
Despite the easing of restrictions, Covid-19 continues to impact SMEs with 54 per cent of survey respondents saying uncertainty over the future will be their number one challenge during the next 12 months.
“There is still a long way to go on the road to recovery for SMEs, even following the end of financial support from the Government, which is why alternative lenders like ourselves will need to be working closely with them,” added John.
“SMEs make up an incredible 99 per cent of the UK’s business population, and have companies across so many sectors have proven their resilience repeatedly, so it’s crucial for the economic recovery that SMEs continue to grow and succeed.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
The Capify SME confidence survey received over 250 responses from UK SMEs across a wide range of sectors, including Construction, Manufacturing, Agriculture, Motor trades, Restaurants, Professional Services and Transportation.
About Capify
Capify is an online lender that provides flexible financing solutions to SMEs seeking working capital to sustain or grow their business. The fintech company has been operating in the UK market for over 13 years and also has a sister company, Capify Australia, which provides similar services to Australian SMEs for over 13 years.
For more details about Capify, visit: http://www.capify.co.uk
Capify Media Contact:
Ian Wood, Marketing Director
iwood@capify.co.uk
0161 393 9536
Stacey Huddleston Joins Seacoast Business Funding
August 17, 2021
Boynton Beach, FL – August 16, 2021 – Seacoast Business Funding is pleased to announce the addition of Stacey Huddleston as Vice President, Business Development Officer. Mr. Huddleston is based in the Midwest and will focus on expanding the Seacoast portfolio in the region. He brings over twenty years of expertise in the financial and alternative lending space providing creative solutions for businesses with complex financial needs.
Seacoast is focused on driving growth and cultivating client relationships to meet the increasing financial needs of businesses throughout their lifecycles. I am confident Stacey’s extensive industry knowledge and relationship-driven approach will drive growth and strengthen our presence across the Midwest region. He will make a welcomed addition to the team,” remarked, Jay Atkins, President of Seacoast Business Funding.
Huddleston is a US Army Veteran who holds a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University and an MBA from Baker University. He has held many distinguished positions throughout his career dedicated to providing businesses with financing to meet their strategic goals. “I am pleased to be joining Seacoast Business Funding. Their focus on ensuring businesses receive the right custom funding solutions is what sets them apart. The opportunity to be part of such an experienced and client-focused team is exciting, and I look forward to driving successful growth for Seacoast in the Midwest,” commented Huddleston. Mr. Huddleston is a member of the SF Net, International Factoring Association, and Association for Corporate Growth. For deal inquiries, Stacey may be contacted by email at stacey.huddleston@seacoastbf.com or by phone at 816-372-5223.
About Seacoast Business Funding
Seacoast Business Funding provides customized and timely working capital financing solutions to small and middle-market companies engaged mainly in business services, distribution, manufacturing and staffing with annual sales ranging from $1 million to $200 Million. Credit facilities are in the form of Factoring, Invoice Purchasing or Asset-Based agreements. Seacoast Business Funding is a Division of Seacoast National Bank. Member FDIC. For more information visit SeacoastBusinessFunding.com.
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